On Wednesday, February 24, 2021 at 2:07:55 PM UTC-8 Chris Peeples wrote:
Dear All:
Just heard on KQED radio.
-- Chris Peeples --
Yes, and I previously posted to the SF-LUG mailing-list earlier today at http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/sf-lug/2021q1/015175.html , 'Fry's now *permanently* shutting down' the following ...
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After nearly 36 years in business as the one-stop-shop and online resource
for high-tech professionals across nine states and 31 stores, Fry's
Electronics, Inc. (Fry's or Company), has made the difficult decision to
shut down its operations and close its business permanently as a result of
changes in the retail industry and the challenges posed by the Covid-19
pandemic. The Company will implement the shut down through an orderly wind
down process that it believes will be in the best interests of the
Company, its creditors, and other stakeholders.
The Company ceased regular operations and began the wind-down process on
February 24, 2021. It is hoped that undertaking the wind-down through this
orderly process will reduce costs, avoid additional liabilities, minimize
the impact on our customers, vendors, landlords and associates, and
maximize the value of the Companys assets for its creditors and other
stakeholders.
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I know that many of we BerkeleyLUG folks living here in the East Bay in particular (Berkeley, Oakland,...etc.) have relied upon Fry's in the recent past for our
computer and electronics supplies, even going up to the present state of the
COVID-19 pandemic :-(
Two of the valid complaints on Fry's even before the pandemic hit, IMHO, were 1) their selling less than top-notch-quality items (called "things that you *don't* actually want") and 2) their sh???y service by "employees who know nothing on a
good day" to help we customers find the items we were looking for and that were definitely in stock in sufficient amounts! :-\
OTOH, among the great benefits to having Brick-and-Mortar stores like Fry's available years before the Covid-19 pandemic hit were 1) their incredible discount and bargain deals on a tremendous variety of frequently-used items and 2) their integrated and large warehoused stock of these items.
For some of us, Fry's was certainly among one of the *key* Go-To places --- besides the now long-defunct Radio Shack stores --- if someone needed a cable, blank CD, a headphone connector or some wire in different colors, and especially if someone knew exactly what they needed at a place they could likely find it.
-Aaron